2015 Aussie Millions Day 7: Richard Yong Defeats Stacked Final Table

Richard Yong Wins $100,000 Challenge

As the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) 2015 Aussie Millions enters its last days, a new $100,000 Challenge champion was crowned while the Main Event paused for a day at its final seven players. The Australian summers are always hot, but the poker action inside Melbourne’s Crown Casino is always hotter.

The 2015 $100,000 Challenge final table was no less illustrious than usual, with the likes of Scott Seiver, Ole Schemion, Justin Bonomo, and Erik Seidel among the players sitting down to vie for the top prize of $1,870,000. In total, the final table had over $57 million in career tournament wins sitting around it, including 468 total cashes and 54 total tournament wins. It’s safe to say the final seven players have some modest experience and success in tournament poker.

Tournament beast Schemion came to the final table with the biggest chip stack, while local Australian player Alex Trevallion played the shortest stack. Trevallion got to the final table after a stellar run in this year’s Aussie Millions, essentially breaking onto the live tournament scene with a win in the $25,000 Challenge, 33rd-place cash in the Main Event, before making his way to the $100K final table.

The final table began with a bit of controversy. After Trevallion shoved his small stack in the first hand, taking the blinds and antes, the second hand of the day exploded in controversy. The final table was being broadcast throughout the Crown Casino for spectators to enjoy, but a technical glitch meant that as Seiver and Schemion battled in the second hand, their hole cards were being broadcast live to all the spectators.

When the glitch was revealed after the a hand where Schemion bet a flopped two pairs, prompting Seiver to fold his pocket pair, someone in the crowd shouted, “Your hole cards were just broadcast on the screen.” Seiver seemed quite upset, declaring he wouldn’t show his cards to the camera anymore.

Tournament staff paused the clock while they fixed the problem. The one-hand problem was rectified, and no more hole cards were broadcast, but the incident left several players unsettled. Play resumed with hole cards properly obscured, but both Bonomo and Seiver seemed visibly upset.

After the technical glitches were sorted out, it was no surprise that Trevallion, the short stack as well as the least experienced player at the table, was the first to bust. He got the remainder of his chips in with a suited one-gapper, only to run into the of Richard Yong. Neither player improved, leaving Yong with the pot, while Trevallion capped off an epic Aussie Millions with eighth place and $310,000.

Play continued on the stacked table for another two hours before Dani Stern finally exited the stage, again at the hands of Richard Yong. Yong rivered a pair to take down Stern’s , sending Stern to the rail in seventh place with $400,000.

After losing a big hand to Seiver, veteran tournament grinder Erik Seidel was the next to bust. Left with fewer than 10 big blinds, Seidel got it in with with Schemion calling with a low pocket pair. Schemion flopped a set, and Seidel couldn’t recover, ending with $500,000 for his sixth-place finish.

Schemion also busted the fifth-place player in the very next hand. Schemion shoved his small blind into Jason Mo’s short stack in the big blind. With barely over 10 big blinds, Mo looked down at and announced call. Mo managed to pair his ace, but it gave Schemion Broadway and sent Mo to the rail with $630,000.

Bonomo was the next to exit, getting it in with the best of it against Seiver. Seiver flopped two pairs, however, and when the river brought a full house, Bonomo was out in fourth place for $800,000.

After the quick knockouts, three-handed play dragged on for several hours, with Seiver, Schemion, and Yong trading chips between them the whole time. Nearly five full hours elapsed before Scott Seiver finally succumbed in third place. Seiver got it in with only to run into Yong’s . The board bricked for Seiver, sending him to the cage to collect a cool $1 million.

That left Ole Schemion heads up against Richard Yong, who was the only player on the final table not to have notched at least one big tournament win in his career. It took nearly two hours to decide a winner, and it was somehow fitting that the title went to the only player at the table without a win. Schemion shoved the flop with an up and down straight draw, only to run into Yong with over-cards. Schemion bricked his straight draws, and both players ended up playing the pair of sixes on the board, with Yong’s jack kicker taking the pot. That left Schemion collecting $1,350,000 for second, while Yong took the title for $1,870,000.

More action heats up today as the Main Event final table plays out. Stay tuned to PokerNews Canada for all the action from Melbourne.

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